As a small child, I loved nothing better than reading. I read everything I could get my hands on, as fast as I could. I wasn’t allowed flashlights in my room, as my parents knew I’d just use them to read under the covers. At one point, they even took my alarm clock, since I was using its display as a lamp.

I loved to read.

Then in late middle school, I got my first computer, and everything changed. Instead of staying up late reading about elves and spaceships and battles, I stayed up reading about Linux and programming and syscalls. I still stayed up late, but had trouble staying interested in the novels that used to keep me spell-bound.

This state of affairs continued through college. I would work on programming homework or fiddle with programs until crazy hours of the night, but could not stay focused on a book for any significant amount of time. I tried buying a Kindle to see if I could leverage my love of technology to revive my interest in books. The Kindle wound up rooted and found great use for textbooks and reference manuals, but didn’t see much leisure-time reading. It bothered me that something I used to take such enjoyment from no longer held any joy for me. Read more on Relaxing and Rediscovering Childhood Joy…